AD #2327 – Green Car Segment Not Growing, Michael Sprague Leaves Kia, Are Executives Paid Too Much?

On today’s show…Sales of plug-ins and EVs are growing, but the green car segment is not…Chevy refreshes the Malibu, Cruze and Spark…and one former auto executive says execs are paid too much money. All that and more coming right up on Autoline Daily.

This is Autoline Daily the show for enthusiasts of the automotive industry.

MICHAEL SPRAGUE LEAVES KIA
In a shocking announcement, the head of Kia’s American operations, Michael Sprague, is leaving the company to “pursue new opportunities.” It looks like this caught the company off guard because it does not have a replacement lined up. Sprague was with the company for nine years and really helped grow the brand in the U.S. And he will probably be best remembered for launching the popular hamster ads.

GM’S CHIEF ECONOMIST RETIRES
And in related news, GM’s Chief Economist, Mustafa Mohatarem is retiring at the end of the year. Loyal Autoline This Week viewers will remember him from our annual economist shows. Replacing Mohatarem is Elaine Buckberg, who was most recently with the Brattle Group and also has worked in consulting, banking and with the federal government.

CHEVY REFRESHES THE MALIBU, CRUZE AND SPARK
Chevy may soon be getting rid of a few sedans in its lineup as we reported yesterday, but its remaining 4-door passenger cars are all getting a fresh look. The 2019 Malibu will get an RS trim with a black grille and bowties, rear spoiler, 18-inch wheels and dual exhaust tips. The interior features a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter, black cloth seats and a standard 8-inch touchscreen. A new CVT is also available on models with the 1.5L turbocharged engine. The Cruze sees a restyled front face, new interior color options and a new infotainment system with a standard 7-inch touchscreen. And here’s a little fun fact about the Cruze GM put in the release: the Hatchback model claimed 20 percent of all Cruze sales in its first full year of production. And finally, the Spark gets new front end styling, new exterior paint colors, revised interior trim and Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking is also available. All of the updated Chevy sedans go on sale later this year.

Still to come…even though electric vehicles are growing faster than the overall market, the green car segment is not getting any bigger in the U.S.

GREEN CAR SEGMENT NOT GROWING
Sales of electric cars this year are up 21%, growing much faster than the overall market. Sales of plug-in hybrids are up a whopping 36%. Even so, the whole green car segment is stalling out at 3% of the market. Here’s the issue, sales of hybrids are falling. And hybrids sell more than electrics and plug-ins combined. What the data shows is that people are getting out of their hybrids and are buying plug-ins or battery electrics instead. But it’s the same people. As a result, the green car segment is not growing. It’s only 3% of all car sales, the same it was 5 years ago. So the impressive growth with plug-ins and battery electrics distorts what’s really going on in the marketplace.

PASSENGER CARS CONTINUE TO SLIDE
Sales of passenger cars continue to fall in the U.S. market. For the first quarter 160,000 fewer passenger cars were sold compared to the same period a year ago. That’s a 10% drop, but a year ago they fell 12%. So maybe we’re starting to see the first signs that the drop is slowing down.

Coming up next, we’ll find out why one former auto executive, says that execs are paid too much.

ARE EXECUTIVES PAID TOO MUCH?
Rande Somma is a former Johnson Controls executive who has strong opinions on corporate America. That’s why he wrote a book detailing the failures of Boards of Directors and management. He joined us on Autoline This Week and explained why he thinks executives are paid too much.

(The ATW preview is only available in the video version of today’s show.)

If you’d like to watch that entire discussion, you can view it right now on our website, Autoline.tv or you can find it on our YouTube channel.

But that’s it for today, thanks for watching, have a great weekend and we’ll be back here again on Monday.